The Japanese wobbegong (''Orectolobus japonicus'') is a

carpet shark Carpet sharks are sharks classified in the order (biology), order Orectolobiformes . Sometimes the common name "carpet shark" (given because many species resemble ornately patterned carpets) is used interchangeably with "wobbegong", which is the ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Orectolobidae of the

wobbegong Wobbegong is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, chiefly around Australia and Indone ...

family, found in the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, between latitudes 43 and 6°N. It reaches a length of 1 m. Japanese wobbegong sharks typically remain motionless during the daytime and are not active hunters. They use camouflage and their electroreceptor pores on their dorsal area to help them sense prey nearby.

References

* * Theiss, S. M., Collin, S. P. & Hart, N. S. Morphology and distribution of the ampullary electroreceptors in wobbegong sharks: implications for feeding behaviour. ''Mar Biol'' 158, 723–735 (2011). {{Taxonbar, from=Q31794 Japanese wobbegong Fish of Japan Marine fauna of East Asia Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan Japanese wobbegong

See also

References